Baltimore revives 42-year-old ordinance to bring development to surface lots

Baltimore wants to see new development on downtown surface parking lots — or at least evidence of progress toward construction.

The city is moving to enforce a 1971 ordinance that requires downtown property owners to obtain zoning approval for surfaced lots. The effort comes after a review of zoning codes showed that owners of downtown lots on which buildings were demolished after 1971 are required by obtain approval to operate parking lots.

Wilbur E. “Bill” Cunningham, chairman of the Planning Commission and a former council member, said there have long been concerns about surface lots sitting next to well-developed downtown real estate. Enforcement of the 42-year-old ordinance will help officials “get ahead of the curve” as the City Council examines a new zoning code set for a vote in the fall that prohibits new parking lots of more than 15 spaces downtown and requires a landscaping plan on existing lots, Cunningham said.

“They have 18 months to implement landscaping and fencing and dress the things up” after the zoning overhaul passes, Cunningham said.

The existing ordinance prohibited downtown property owners from razing buildings and using the “land as a parking lot unless authorized by an ordinance of the mayor and City Council.”

When the City Council weighs whether to approve the zoning request, officials are supposed consider whether a lot is needed and whether the lot would cause “possible aesthetic damage.”

When Cunningham was a City Council member, he said he successfully passed legislation that put restrictions on surface parking and set a time limit for use as a parking lot, but that legislation was later repealed. The zoning approvals the Planning Commission is set to consider, introduced by Councilman William H. Cole IV, also includes an expiration date.

The zoning would expire after four years, but the property owner would have the option of a two-year extension that officials could grant if the owner can show progress toward development.

Urban America LP is seeking approval to maintain its lot at 300 E. Pratt St., the former site of the News-American building. The Planning Commission will vote on May 16 whether to grant the site a temporary zoning ordinance.

The commission also will consider whether to grant the same zoning approval to the former McCormick & Co. spice plant lot at the corner of Light and Conway streets and the former Southern Hotel site at 5 Light St., but dates for those Planning Commission votes have not yet been set. All three lots will have the same four-year time period with a two year extension if approved, Cole said.

City planners have placed restrictions on surface parking lots on planned unit developments as well.

Last month, the Planning Commission voted to approve the Harbor Point PUD with a 24-month expiration date on surface parking, and the lots are only allowed if they are used to support construction at the site.

All three lots up for zoning approval this year have been the subjects of various development proposals over the years.